Ondo House to prioritise pensioners’ welfare –Spokesman
By Stephen Gbadamosi
The Ondo State House of Assembly has stressed the need to always take the welfare of pensioners as its priority.
Members of the House Committee on Human Capital Development stated this during their familiarisation visit to the state Pension Commission in Akure, the state capital.
Chairman of the committee, Chief Olatunji Oshati, who led other members emphasised that all hands ought to be on deck to ensure that the senior citizens receive their pensions and gratuities as and when due.
According to Oshati, this set of people deserved nothing but the best, having served the state meritoriously.
He, however, express regret over the stress retirees were going through before they could collect their gratuities and arrears, owing to the meagre federal statutory allocation from which the gratuities were paid.
The lawmaker emphasised on transparency and accountability in the conduct of government businesses and assured of the committee’s support for the commission.
Other lawmakers commended the Pension Commission (PENCOM) for the services rendered, urging them to do more.
The committee also a visited the Public Service Training Institute, Ilaramokin, where the chairman, Chief Oshati, urged governmental agencies to ensure that they keep running with the vision of the present administration by bringing fresh ideas to the table for effective execution of government programmes and policies.
He charged management of the institution to look inward by bringing more programmes, in order to attract civil servants from other states to the institute.
The committee was later conducted round facilities at the institute.
Earlier, the Director General, Ondo State PENCOM, Babatunde Adefusi, who briefed the committee about their activities, explained that the commission was not only responsible for handling pension benefits of retired local government workers, but also partnering with stakeholders to give workers a blissful retirement.
READ ALSO: Human Rights Groups raise alarm over proposed Afrexim.
He commended Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for making the payment of pension a top priority.
Also, the Director General, Ondo State Public Service Training Institute, Dr. Olumide Asere, said the institute, which was set up about 40 years ago, had been training civil servants at all cadres for maximum service delivery and productivity.
He expressed belief that the visit would address some challenges the institute was faced with.
